


Integrity

by krzed, projectml



Series: Project: Labor Day 2018 [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Tough Decisions, minor season 2 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 11:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15193670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krzed/pseuds/krzed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/projectml/pseuds/projectml
Summary: Alya learns something that could guarantee her career in journalism, but is it worth it?





	Integrity

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of Project: Miraculous Ladybug's Project: Labor Day, 2018.
> 
> Author  
> krzed - http://krzed.tumblr.com
> 
> Beta  
> Misfire Ezreal - http://misfireezreal.tumbl.com

Alya cycled through the pictures for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour. She still couldn’t believe it, though she had seen it with her own eyes. Well, it was technically one of her Mirage clones capturing Ladyblog footage, but it’s not as though it truly mattered. What mattered was the series of pictures she saw on her computer screen now.

Ladybug landing in an alleyway, pink lights swirling around her feet.

The lights at mid thigh, revealing suspiciously familiar pink capris.

The lights just at her navel, the hem of a white shirt and a pink purse just visible.

The lights at her neck, the familiar gray blazer fluttering in an unseen wind.

Marinette.

Alya steepled her fingers and sighed. Her best friends of several years, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, was Ladybug. Alya didn’t know whether to feel upset that Marinette had kept this from her, impressed that Marinette  _ could _ keep this from her for so long, or embarassed that she’d never figured it out, despite sitting next to the girl for nearly all of college and the last few years of lycee.

Her eyes floated over to Trixx, asleep on a pile of laundry beside her bed. Since being trusted to become Rena Rouge full time about two years ago, she understood the necessities of keeping a secret identity (which was, at times, a nightmare with two younger siblings who didn’t understand the concept of privacy). She couldn’t be too upset at Marinette for not telling her. After all, had she known Ladybug’s identity when she became Lady Wifi, Hawkmoth could have plucked it right out of her mind.

But this went far beyond just knowing Ladybug’s identity. Her true problem came from the new Paris tourism net-zine, La Sensation. Whether Ladybug liked it or not, Team Miraculous had become a huge tourist attraction, and La Sensation paid well for any information on Ladybug or her team. Small surprise when they were quick to offer the Ladyblogger a journalism internship.

She’d just started her internship with them a few months ago, but she’d quickly learned that they didn’t want the far-above-average, tenacious journalist with a nose for scoops like a bloodhound (okay, more like a fox) that she was. All they wanted from her was the latest news and gossip on Team Miraculous. What’s the latest on Rena and Carapace’s rivalry? Who is the redhead Queen Bee was seen with? Does Chat Noir have an insatiable sweet tooth or is he visiting the Dupain-Cheng Bakery for another reason? And most importantly…

What is Ladybug’s secret identity?

La Sensation promised hot bonus and promotions to anyone who could snap a pic of Ladybug without her spots, and also guaranteed Alya a job if she were the one to unmask the heroine. That’s what left Alya torn. Here, on her computer, was everything she needed to secure her career. She had the files in a folder and the email already typed out. All she had to do was attach the files, hit send...and betray her best friend.

Alya dug her fingers into her scalp and groaned. This should be an easy decision. On the one hand, she’d searched for Ladybug’s identity since she founded the Ladyblog, and now that she knew, she could have everything. Her career path could be set for life. But on the other hand...she never expected Ladybug to be someone she knew. Over two million people in Paris and Ladybug just had to be Marinette. So it came down to what she valued more: her future or her best friend. 

With that in mind, she knew what she had to do. She clicked on the folder containing the files, dragged it across the screen…

And dropped it into the recycle bin.

She glanced back over to Trixx and smiled.  _ You're strong, brave. But most of all, you're trustworthy.  _ That’s what they’d said after her first adventure as Rena Rouge. Trustworthy. Alya would prove to La Sensation that she wasn’t a one-trick pony, that she was good for more than just Miraculous gossip. She would build her career by herself, and she’d do it without exploiting her best friend to do it. But that still left one question…  
  
What  _ was _ Chat Noir doing at her place late at night?


End file.
